A popular Ride-Heling Platform in India, Rapido, has quietly began testing its food distribution service in Bengaluru, which marks its first serious move to challenge the market leaders in one of the world’s fastest growing distribution markets.
The 10-year startup has started testing its food distribution service in three primary areas in the southern city of Bangalore, such as Birerasandra, Tawrekere, and Maddiwala (BTM) layout, Hosur Sarajapura Road (HSR) layout, and Koroangla, Rapido co-institutional and CEO Arvind Hunk
Rapido created CTRLX Technologies, a fully owned subsidiary to launch its food distribution service, named Swami. The assistant company has listed Finance Vice President and Rapido Vice President as directors of Finance Vivek Krishna as per the regulatory filing reviewed by Techcrunch.
Sanka said that there was no specific reason to establish the assistant. However, it can be a strategic move to avoid the possible struggles of interest with Swiggy, which currently holds 12% of minority stake in ride-hailing startups.
Recently swiggy Confirmed In a letter to shareholders that it will revaluate its investment in Rapido, in which “may be generated in the future, citing a possible conflict of interests.
Meanwhile, Rapido also has her own Issued Its Android app on Google Play that provides food from nearby restaurants, which is about 15% lower prices than Swiggy and Zomato.
The low pricing is a result of the model of not taking commission from the Rapido restaurant, which is up to 30% in terms of other food distribution apps, including swigy and zomato, and instead to charge a certain fee per order. Startup Mentioned its definite attitude In the proposal of restaurant in June.
Techcrunch event
San francisco
,
27-29 October, 2025
Rapido has a fleet of about 10 million vehicles, including 5 to 6 million two-wheelers across India, a person acquainted with the startup business recently told Techcrunch. The company is using its two-wheeler fleet to provide food as well as offering its taxi and courier services.
Rapido will avoid showing restaurants located away from customers to reduce the cost of fuel and delivery time, and cure the menu items on their app, offering adequate discovery to their app to maximize the menu item, a Rapido investor told Techcrunch on condition of anonymity.
The investor said that while handling delivery for Swigy, Rapido received insight into peak hours and high-demand restaurants-data that will now benefit for its own food distribution service, the investor said.
The investor stated that the compromise with Swiggy does not prevent Rapido from using this data, although it prevents the startup from entering the contract with Zomato or other competitors.
Established in 2015, Rapido started as a bike taxi aggregator before expanding auto rickshaws, parcel delivery and third-party logistics. In 2023, it entered the cab business to take Uber and local rival Ola. The startup received traction in this segment with its membership-based model, putting it as an alternative to the commission-based approach used by its rivals.
Rapido also participated with Taiwan’s battery-swapping electric two-wheeler manufacturer Gogoro to deploy its vehicles as a bike taxi. In addition, recent steps helped startups to promote its evaluation and become a unicorn last year.
India’s online food distribution market is It is estimated to cross ₹ 2 trillion (About 23 billion dollars), by 2030, was released last year as per a report by Bain & Co. and Swigi. Currently zomato Leads the market with 58% sharesAccording to brokerage firm Motilal Oswal, while Swiggy Remaining 42%Per Bernstein. Uber was also one of the early players in space with Uber Eats, which was sold to Zomato in early 2020.
So far, Rapido has collected $ 574 million in 13 rounds, Per Tracxn. It operates in more than 250 cities and handles more than 3.5 million rides per day. The startup counts prosecution, Westbridge Capital, Nexus Venture Partners and Think Investments among its leading investors.
